My husband recently informed me that my stated gym goal – to develop a rugby player’s legs, more specifically the legs of Rob Andrew from the mid-1990’s – was a ‘highly niche’ activity.

He didn’t state the obvious, that this is actually also unachievable, but instead said that he felt that it was ‘unlikely’ to have popular appeal.

But surely, everyone in the world would aspire to having legs like this? No?

Because after many years ‘doing fitness’ the single thing that I could say with absolute certainty was that I would never ever regret working towards having strong legs.

And so who would be my ultimate inspo? Who is the ultimate leg person? Well, Rob Andrew of course. England rugby union fly-half from 1985 to 1997. I admired him at the time and looking back now, the photos attest to the balanced power of his anatomy. His legs were clearly highly adapted to all of the things a rugby player needs to do.

copyright: World Rugby via Rob Andrew’s Game Winning Drop Goal | On This Day

Now, I understand that I am not a 25 year old man and that I don’t play rugby. Even Rob Andrew’s legs may not look like that anymore.

But it turns out I am sort of right.

Because when I wrote my post, Trust me I am a Powerlifter, on my experience of strength having positive outcomes in the rest of life including running Capstone Consultants my company with Leyla Gilbey, it seems that these positive outcomes felt personally by me may have backing in actual science.

Most recently last week the FT ran this article, Muscly people show slower brain ageing, study finds which suggests that in training legs (the largest muscles in the body) we are at the same time helping our brains. So I may not be getting more intelligent but every brain cell feels project-critical at this stage!

This builds on another study from 2016 highlighting the specific cognitive benefits of leg strength in particular: Kicking Back Cognitive Ageing: Leg Power Predicts Cognitive Ageing after Ten Years in Older Female Twins – King’s College London

It’s a Strategic win:
If strategy is defined as a ‘plan of action for the achievement of long-term goals’ then training legs is the ultimate strategic no-brainer. Chris Allen, also known as Symbiotic Strength, trains rugby players and teams, as well as powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters, and has the dubious fortune to be my coach.

His take is that ‘Building strong legs is something that everyone, at any age, can do. Yes, it’s hard, but the benefits are only positive, both for physical ability in the short term but also for longevity. There are no psychological or physical drawbacks that I can see in having stronger legs as the end goal.  And learning to put yourself through a little bit of short term hardship in the training process can have huge positive effects on your emotional confidence and resilience which translate into non-gym life.’ 

Keep it Rational:
Like most of us I sometimes struggle to remain fully rational and calm in the face of life’s challenges, both large and small. That’s why I am approaching #legslikeRobAndrew in a light hearted yet dedicated way.

Where am I at right now? Right now I am struggling to master the box step-up. It’s an incredibly difficult thing to do for me, even with small weights but I am gamely going for it every week, with very small, but tantalisingly just-enough, progress.

Daniel Fryer REB Coach told me that ‘Rational emotional behavioural practice is an excellent goal-directed tool for improving your mindset and resilience in any area, which makes it great for life, as well as sports coaching. Working on your outcomes in a focussed but flexible way means that, not only are you more likely to achieve your goal, but you’re also more likely to enjoy the journey.’  

So the aim, epitomised by the legs of Rob Andrew, of a strong lower body is both highly strategic, as well as rational.

I am flexible to the fact that I may never get the legs of my dreams. But what I can guarantee is that they will look a lot better and be a lot stronger than if I had never tried.